Diet For Cats: Raw Foods

Feeding Cats a Diet of Whole Raw Foods Based on Nature’s Model

A Cat is a Cat is a Cat

Hunting is natural behavior in cats. I have a cat that brings birds, chipmunks and mice to my front door to show how much she “loves” me. In fact, last summer somehow I let my cat in and she had a live bird.  It was my turn to “hunt” the bird – and get it out of my house!

In nature, cats eat their prey whole.  When a mother cat is teaching her kittens to hunt she will bring home dead prey for the kittens to eat. Once they are older she will bring home injured prey for the kittens and make the final kill in front of the kittens.  It is perfectly natural for these carnivorous animals to eat whole raw foods.

However, many of us that love to cuddle up to our cats in the warmth of our own homes, hate to think of these adorable creatures as carnivores.  But by God’s design, cats are naturally equipped with:

• Strong predatory instincts – stalking, chasing and pouncing
• Jaws that open and close in a vertical plane only, rather than moving horizontally, to break apart bones and tear meat
• Strong stomach acids for neutralizing potentially harmful bacteria from raw meat and short digestive tracks to digest bones

Because of the cat’s particular anatomical and physiological design, the most ideal and natural way for them to consume nutrition is meat, organs and bones of raw meat, which is why you should consider a raw food diet for your cat.

How Safe Is Your Pet Food?

I spend a good amount of time thinking about what to feed myself.  I want to eat naturally, healthy nutrient-dense food so my body can heal itself. I also want my cat to have healthy hip joints, strong teeth and shiny teeth – don’t you want the same for your pet?

I have realized that pet food, like people food, is full of ridiculous gimmicks and needs investigation into their ingredients and a skeptical look at their claims.

Cooked commercial cat food is sometimes made from animals that died of illness or reject animal parts of animals that were fed steroids.

As for safety, there are plenty of pet food recalls because dogs and cats have died after eating food containing ingredients from China that were found to contain melamine. Other recalls happen on a smaller scale, so watch-out for repeat offenders.  Not all pet foods are created equal.

The Many Health Advantages of Raw Whole Foods

The benefit of raw foods for pets is much the same as humans; they get most, if not all, of the nutrients that they need to be as healthy as possible. Many animals who suffer from skin allergies, chronic ear infections, and problems with their digestive tract may eventually be free of these symptoms when they get on a raw foods regime.

Feeding a raw diet provides a broad range of benefits that include:

• Healthy skin and coat
  Many cats are allergic to grains, which can lead to pathologic skin conditions.
• Naturally clean teeth
  Many dry foods leave a starchy coating on teeth, which promotes plaque. Feeding a raw diet can lead to healthier teeth and gums.
• Decreased litter box odor
  Many pet foods include protein that is indigestible, which leads to an undesirable odor at the litter box.
• Natural weight control
  Cats are healthiest on a high protein, low carbohydrate diet.
• Increased energy and vitality
  Cat’s digestive systems are designed to ingest raw meat and are healthiest eating what nature intended.
• Mental, psychological and physical stimulation that increases vitality, while positively influencing your pet’s overall quality of life.

The raw diet for pets is also known as the BARF diet. Sounds a little on the “gross” side, but BARF is actually an acronym for Biologically Appropriate Raw Food.  It is much the same as the raw food diet that is being embraced by humans in that everything that the animals are consuming are whole foods in their most natural and safe to consume forms.

Putting Raw Food Cat Diet It Into Practice

Next on my to-do list is making my own cat food, so I really have control over the ingredients and know exactly where everything came from.  A raw food diet, however, can be a huge commitment on the part of the pet owner, especially if your car or pet has been raised on commercial food.

Preparing certain homemade raw cat food recipes can be time consuming and labor intensive in comparison to what is typically done.  You can view our official Home Cures That Work raw cat food recipe in our Healthy Recipes and Eating section HERE.

A whole raw foods diet for cats can be comprised of essential basics:

• Raw muscle meat, along with organ meat from the same source, i.e., chicken, beef, lamb
• Raw bones (neck and back bones in poultry), either ground or whole

Others add:

• Fresh raw vegetables (broccoli, carrots, squash and potatoes)
• Raw fruits (apples, cranberries and bananas)
• Grains (barley oats, brown rice)

Tip: offering your cat as much meat variety in a raw diet as possible is important in order to provide adequate nutrition:

• Small game hens, duck or quail
• Rabbits, mice, rat and/or fish
• Parts of turkey, lamb, goat, pork, ostrich, emu, elk or venison

I recently bought fresh chicken breast and thighs to make tacos for guests. I cut off the meat and put the scraps in the fridge.  Come dinner time, raw chicken meat for my cat. So easy and Kiska loves it!

Cat’s Transition Time

If your cat has been eating a steady diet of commercial junk food his entire life, it’s important to realize up front that transitioning him to a raw diet might take some time as well as some persistence, perseverance, and above all, a good bit of patience on your part.

You can use whatever favorite food you know your cat likes as a bribe food to encourage him to take the raw plunge. Some possible suggestions for bribe foods are:

• A drizzling of juice from a can of water packed tuna
• Small portion of canned cat food
• Bit of grated Parmesan cheese
• Crumbled dried liver
• Some smashed canned sardines, anchovies or herring
• Sprinkling of crushed kibble
• Portion of plain, homemade meat, bone and/or giblet broth, used as a marinade
• Whatever other favorite treat you know your kitty loves

One of the most important things to keep in mind when transitioning your cat to a raw diet, and one of the reasons it can take time to do so, is that you must never starve a cat into eating raw food.

Recipe for a Long Healthy Life

Astonishingly, cats who have been fed an unnatural conglomeration of cooked, canned, dried and over-processed pet foods, continue to fill the waiting rooms of countless veterinarians’ offices the world over, waiting to be treated for a variety of health conditions.

A diet of raw nourishing foods and minimal exposure to toxins, combined with a lack of undue stress, along with plenty of playtime, exercise, and access to fresh air, water and sunshine, topped off with loads and loads of love, is one of the best recipes for ensuring the good health and long lives of our feline friends.

 What do you feed your best friend? Do you have any pet food recipes to share?